Councilors want panhandlers off street

Wednesday

Jan 16, 2013 at 6:00 AMJan 16, 2013 at 6:03 PM

By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The City Council Tuesday night gave preliminary approval to a pair of ordinances making it illegal to solicit money from motorists while standing in the street, walking in and out of traffic or standing on a traffic island.

By an 8-2 vote, the council agreed to advertise the ordinances, which target so-called “aggressive” panhandlers who solicit money while walking in and out of traffic at busy intersections. They also put an end to so-called “tag days” — a longstanding practice in the city in which representatives of charitable organizations and youth sports groups solicit donations from motorists at intersections.

Supporters of the ordinances said they are all about public safety and are not meant to infringe on anyone's constitutional rights to free speech.

Opponents, meanwhile, argued that the ordinances are nothing more than a Band-Aid approach to addressing the root causes of panhandling and will do little to solve the overall problem of homelessness.

More than 35 people attended the meeting, with a vast majority of them opposed to the ordinances. Some of those who testified claimed the new laws will restrict people's freedom and ability to seek out assistance, and that they targeted less fortunate people.

But Mrs. Lukes said many people misunderstand the ordinances. She said they will actually have a very limited impact, and she emphasized that they will not prohibit panhandling altogether.

Instead, she said, the city is simply not allowing people to solicit money at intersections where there could be public safety issues.

“This will universally be applied to everyone and the impact will be minimal,” Mrs. Lukes said. “We have crafted what I think are very narrow and problem-solving ordinances. Panhandlers can still use public ways like sidewalks; their constitutional rights are being protected. We are regulating certain activities, we are not prohibiting them. This is one of those times when we are not waiting for a crisis.”

Mr. Rushton said the ordinances are a matter of “balancing interests.” He said while the council is intent on protecting people's rights to solicit money, it wants to prohibit that practice from occurring in areas that could be dangerous.

“These slight restrictions in the interest of public safety are for the common good,” Mr. Rushton said. “We stand firm with the law; we are not over-reaching. To be indifferent and not pass these ordinances is not a solution.”

But Ms. Rivera and Mr. O'Brien said there needs to be more conversation on coming up with solutions aimed at addressing the root causes of panhandling.

“This is kind of an embarrassing situation because I don't feel we are having the proper conversation,” Ms. Rivera said. “We need to talk about poverty. I refuse to be part of a vote that is hypocritical and doesn't offer solutions. I want to be able to support real solutions and not just a Band-Aid.”

Councilor O'Brien echoed that sentiment, saying he does not think the ordinances will solve the problem of aggressive panhandling in the city.

“We need to have a more thoughtful dialogue going forward,” he said. “Whatever we do tonight, I hope we have a more aggressive outreach effort for those people who are in need. I don't think this ordinance will solve this problem; I think we will need to take another look at this in the future.”

Because the ordinances will eliminate tag days, the City Council also asked City Manager Michael V. O'Brien to assist firefighters in finding locations where they could conduct their annual “boot day.”

For more than 30 years, Worcester firefighters have raised more than $500,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through an annual boot day. The fund-raising effort involves using firefighter boots to collect money from motorists at intersections.

Mr. Eddy and Mr. Petty co-sponsored an order to keep the boot day tradition alive. They said there is a need for the city's continued commitment and support of such a tradition.

In their order, they asked the city manager to contact all the supermarkets and major shopping plazas within the city and ask them to grant special access to members of the Fire Department on May 11, the date of this year's MDA Boot Day, similar to the access given to the Salvation Army at Christmastime.

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